Research Library / Article Summary

Where There is Smoke There is Fear—Impaired Contextual Inhibition of Conditioned Fear in Smokers

Plain-English AddictionTube research summary with source link, DOI, key finding, and recovery relevance.

Neuropsychopharmacology • 25 Jan 2017 • Research

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Research focus

This article may help explain addiction science through research on nicotine, mental health. The source abstract begins by describing: “The odds-ratio of smoking is elevated in populations with neuropsychiatric diseases, in particular in the highly prevalent diagnoses of post-traumatic stress and anxiety disorders.”

Key finding: We propose that smokers have a deficit in integrating contextual signs of safety, which is a hallmark of post-traumatic stress and anxiety disorders.

Why this may help: This may help explain why addiction can involve brain, behavior, mental health, craving, relapse, or treatment factors rather than simple willpower alone. It should be read as research information, not personal medical advice.

Article details

Authors: Jan Haaker, Tina B Lonsdorf, Raffael Kalisch

DOI: 10.1038/npp201717

Open access: Not marked open access

Open original source article

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